Explore Deafness in Adulthood in more detail :

Adults and Hearing Technologies

Today’s hearing technologies can change the impact of hearing loss for adults. We have:

Digital hearing aids

Cochlear implants

Electro-acoustic implants

Bone conducting hearing implants

Middle ear implants

Brain stem implants

There are other devices called assistive listening devices which help the technology to be work more effectively: these may be loop systems, or radio hearing aid systems, or other devices designed to help you use the phone or hear better in groups. Hearing aids and implants often don’t work so well in noise or in situations with echoes and in noise, so these other devices can really help.

Hearing aids are constantly being updated, as is all technology, such as your mobile phone or computer, and keeping up to date can be hard for us all. Hearing aids amplify the sound coming to your ear. Please visit this Hearing Link website page and this Action on Hearing Loss website page for a great deal of useful information on hearing aids. Today’s hearing aids are small, may be in the ear, rather than behind it, and come in up-to-date colours! For more information on hearing aids, hearing loss and communication, please find more information on this by visiting this C2Hear YouTube channel page which includes the full video's, quizzes, and other contentsdeveloped by the Nottingham Hearing Biomedical Research Unit (NHBRU) which is part of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).

Implantable devices, such as cochlear implants, require surgery to be fitted, and consist of the internal part, which is surgically implanted, and the external part, which contains the microphone and processor and looks rather like a hearing aid. Again, useful information on cochlear implants can be found at SoundSpace Online - Hearing Implants and on this Hearing Link website page.